1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a planar wave transducer assembly that is useful for translating the planar waves of a musical instrument into an electric signal.
2. Background Art
The sounds produced by musical instruments today are often converted into electrical signals for amplification and other processing. Certain musical instruments, such as a piano, incorporate a large soundboard that not only translates the vibrations of strings into corresponding air vibrations, but also tends to pick up vibrations transmitted from the amplified sound of the piano and from other audio sources through the air to the soundboard. In view of the foregoing, when a piano is being used with sound reinforcement or in a high sound level environment, it is virtually impossible to obtain substantial feedback rejection or good isolation of the piano sounds from those of other musical instruments or sound sources in the same environment.
Furthermore, because the type of motion which translates string vibration into corresponding air vibrations exhibits distinct patterns of active and null zones distributed over the entire area of the soundboard, and because these patterns are different for each note or combination of notes played on the instrument, it is virtually impossible to define any single location on the soundboard where placement of a vibration sensor would enable the sensor to provide a properly-balanced representation of every tone produced by the keyboard.
Accordingly, a major object of the present invention is to achieve a transducer assembly that will produce an electrical signal that accurately represents the piano's complex tones. Another object is to achieve such a transducer assembly that isolates the piano's tones from non-piano sounds in the same environment. Another object is to achieve such a transducer assembly that provides substantial feedback rejection when high-level sound reinforcement techniques are employed. A further object is to achieve such a transducer assembly which enhances the piano's tones. Still another object is to achieve such a transducer assembly which can provide an accurate and well-balanced representation of the acoustic sound when positioned at virtually any location on the soundboard. These and further objects will appear to those skilled in this field from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the transducer assembly of the present invention.